leave (1) — OET

leave1

verb

1 I left the hotel:

depart from, go away from, go from, withdraw from, retire from, take oneself off from, exit from, take one's leave of, pull out of, quit, be gone from, decamp from, disappear from, abandon, vacate, absent oneself from, evacuate;

say one's farewells/goodbyes, make off, clear out, make oneself scarce, check out;

abscond from, run away from, flee (from), fly from, bolt from, go AWOL, take French leave, escape (from);

informal push off, shove off, cut, cut and run, do a bunk, do a disappearing act, split, vamoose, scoot, clear off, take off, make tracks, up sticks, pack one's bags, flit;

British, informal sling one's hook.

▷antonyms arrive, come, stay.

2 the next morning we left for Leicester:

set off, head, make, begin one's journey, set sail.

3 he's left his wife:

abandon, desert, discard, turn one's back on, cast aside, cast off, jilt, leave in the lurch, leave high and dry, throw over, leave stranded, brush off;

informal dump, ditch, chuck, drop, walk out on, run out on, rat on, leave flat;

British, informal give someone the push, give someone the elbow, give someone the big E, bin off;

archaic forsake.

▷antonyms stay with.

4 he left his job in November:

quit, give up, abandon, move from, resign from, retire from, bow out of, step down from, withdraw from, get out of, pull out of, back out of.

▷antonyms stay in.

5 she left her handbag on a bus:

leave behind, omit to take, forget, lose, mislay.

6 I thought I'd leave it to the experts:

entrust, hand over, pass on, refer;

delegate;

assign, consign, allot, give, commit.

7 when he died he left her £100,000:

bequeath, will, endow, hand down, transfer, convey, make over;

Law demise, devise.

8 the speech left some feelings of disappointment:

cause, produce, generate, give rise to, result in.

□ leave someone in the lurch

I wouldn't have left the club if it meant leaving them in the lurch:

leave in trouble, let down, leave helpless, leave stranded, leave high and dry, abandon, desert, betray;

North American, informal bail on;

archaic forsake.

▷antonyms help, support, come to the aid of.

□ leave off

informal

I wish he would leave off hanging around with them:

stop, cease, finish, desist from, keep from, break off, lay off, give up, discontinue, refrain from, restrain oneself from, hold back from, swear off, resist the temptation to, stop oneself from, withhold from, eschew;

conclude, terminate, suspend, bring to an end, renounce, forswear, forbear, relinquish;

North American quit;

informal give over, knock off, jack something in.

▷antonyms continue, go on.

□ leave someone or something out

1 Adam left out the address on the letter:

miss out, omit, omit by accident, fail to include, overlook, pass over, neglect to notice, leave unnoticed, forget;

skip, miss, jump.

▷antonyms include.

2 he was left out of the England squad:

exclude, omit, except, eliminate, drop, count out, disregard, ignore, reject, pass over, neglect, cut out, do away with, bar, debar, keep out.

▷antonyms include.

leave (1) Oxford Dictionary of English